Ulysses is consistently upheld as one of the greatest works of literature in the English language. But, like many people, I’ve never read it; I mean to, but never seem to have the time or momentum to get going on it. Now there are three things I know about Ulysses: 1. it’s set in Dublin; 2. the main character is called Bloom; 3. it’s set in one day – 16 June – which has since been celebrated each year as Bloomsday. So here’s the plan: given that Joyce set the whole of the book in a day, I’m going to read the whole of the book in a day. What could possibly go wrong?

Ably supported by the staff and students here at the University of Buckingham, you can follow my progress over at https://ulyssesinaday.wordpress.com/ where we’ll be working up to that fateful day in June with posts on Joyce and his work to set the scene, while I’ll be looking at ways to increase my reading speed and make this task achievable.

The central philosophy behind this project is conquering our fear of supposedly unreadable books, showing that the inaccessible can be accessible. You don’t have to read Ulysses in a day with me, though you are more than welcome, but maybe if I can do this then it means you can pick up whichever book has been sat on your shelf for too long, the book we all have on our shelves somewhere that was bought with all good intentions but keeps getting postponed for easier literature. Or maybe you could just sponsor me so we can support the National Literacy Trust in helping others to overcome their own reading challenge.